Page 14 of Salvage Him

I wanted to pluck it away from her teeth, so she didn't hurtherself.

Fuck, what didIknow?

She opened her mouth tospeak.

"Hey, good morning." Justin stepped into the house balancing a tray with six paper coffee cups and a brown and pink box. A smaller bag dangled between histeeth.

"Hey J, let me help you,"Isaid.

"Nope, I got it. It’s all in how you balance." He headed toward the table and set down the refreshments. He leaned over and hugged Brooklyn with one hand. "Brooklyn, it's good to see you. I see you've met Harrison." Justin looked back at me. "What do you think of our new client here? She has some fantastic ideas, right?" Justin pointed atBrooklyn.

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Brooklyn said as she turned back to hertable.

Seth and a couple of other men entered the house. Justin went to greet them. I moved to the other side of the table fromBrooklyn.

To her credit, her light brown cheek developed a tinge of red as she smiled up at me through her longeyelashes.

My heart thumped in my chest, and it pushed away my embarrassment. I was sure it would hit again later when I recalled with horror mybehavior.

"New client?" Iwhispered.

"I'm sorry. I should have said something." Sheleanedin.

"Nah . . . I practically seduce all my new clients. It's my icebreaker."

"Oh, well, if that's the case, well done. It worked. Ice broken." She made a flared motion withherhand.

Ilaughed.

Shejoinedme.

My heart raced again. She was beautiful. Her shoulder-length brown hair appeared real. Her smile lit up the world. Her ass, epic, and her skin was the tone of my favorite wood staincolor.

Okay, I might be making that lastoneup.

If it wasn't before, itwasnow.

She stood confidently with a hand on her hip as she waited for the others tojoinus.

"Brooklyn, you know Seth. This is Brian and Nathan, plumber and painter respectively." Justin made theintroductions.

Nice to meet ya,”shesaid.

She smiled and shook each guy’s hand. If they were shocked that our new client, Mrs. McIntyre, was a twenty-something African American with a New York accent, they didn'tshowit.

"Let's take a tour of the house, and Brooklyn, you can chime in if you've made some decisions about the décor these guys can help with,"Justinsaid.

"I have all the color schemes, fixture ideas, and woodwork done." She held up one of her binders. I peeked at the spine and found each one labeled a different room in thehouse.

"Wow. You are organized," Sethchimedin.

"I have to be." She scanned the sixteen-foot ceiling in theentryway.

I regretted sharing my opinion of her big house. From what Justin and Seth had said about her husband, the latter wasprobablytrue.

Justin led us through the house, and Brooklyn followed. We started on the second floor in the theater. Brooklyn spoke, and we all made notes. When we reached the game room, Brooklyn turned to me. "I want to add a built-in entertainment center and an entire wall of custombookshelves."

I nodded and scribbled some ideas in mynotebook.